


Every show needs a makeover scene

by Akiko_kitsune



Category: Gintama
Genre: First Love, Fluff and Crack, Let smart boys be happy and dumb, M/M, Makeup, Past Relationship(s), Post-Canon, Zura being a good friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-28 05:59:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16235606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiko_kitsune/pseuds/Akiko_kitsune
Summary: After saving Shouyou, Takasugi can't find himself a place. Being again so close to a man he used to love isn't helping. But he can always count on his friends who will always make his life more complicated.





	Every show needs a makeover scene

**Author's Note:**

> It's only a little silly thing, so I let it stay without beta-read. I don't know if it even makes any sense, I just wanted to see my best boys in a silly situation. To make it happen I probably made them a bit dumber than they are in canon, but let's let Takasugi be a dummy from time to time.
> 
> Also, shameless promotion of ShouTaka, beware.

“It’s a shame to sleep through such a night like this,” Takasugi said leaning on the bridge railing. He knew he was followed. And he knew by whom. Only one person was that stupid and so stubborn.

“Have you slept through any night?” Katsura asked and removed his hat. Takasugi usually could see through his disguises, though he mostly didn’t mind being followed.

“Your work is so boring that you started to think about me? Aren’t you worried that someone might see you with me, Mr Prime Minister?” Takasugi chuckled.

“You’ve become so lazy that the world is starting to forget about you.”

Takasugi smirked. “You should be glad I behave. I could overthrow your precious government at any moment.”

Katsura sighed. It wasn’t easy to find Takasugi. He had a lot of hideouts in Edo. Even if Katsura tried to track him himself, Takasugi often just disappear in thin air. It became more common lately. Takasugi tried to spend as much time as he could with Shouyou since they saved him, but still, there were moments when he just backed off from everyone. Katsura couldn’t watch his friend keep hiding from life. He’d left him twice, it was all a mistake. So there wouldn’t be the third time.

“I may have heard about someone connected to Tendoushuu,” Katsura started. “I thought it would interest you.”

“You won’t just give me this information, right?”

“I have one condition - you’re doing it my way.”

* * *

Zura’s plans were never good. But he didn’t leave Takasugi much a choice. If he opposed, he would have to find it all by himself and that would take a lot of time. It was better to end it quick.

Takasugi wouldn’t let anyone hurt Shouyou.

They just got him back.

Takasugi pushed these thoughts away. It was only distracting him. He had a mission. Even if there were some idiotic conditions, he was going to do it his way. Well, if he was really doing it his way, then he would do it all by himself. This time he knew that his own skills might not be sufficient. He had to rely on someone else. Zura could help him meet these conditions, but Takasugi would rather die than ask him for it.

So he turned to the only person that may help him and it wouldn’t make him want to die of shame. He didn’t want to bother her anymore, but it this situation she was the only one he could count on.

“Shinsuke-sama!” Matako literally screamed noticing him standing in front of her shop which she opened when she made her peace if the end of Kiheitai. Maybe he shouldn’t interfere more in her life. She was once lead to an execution because of him. And for the same reason, she faced death more times than she should.

It was too late to turn back now, so Taakasugi only said: “I could use your help.”

“Of course, I… I’ll do anything!” she let him to her shop. Inside she lowered her voice and asked: “Is Tendushuu still…”

“I have yet to find out. Maybe it’s nothing and we’re just overreacting,” at least that was what he was trying to tell himself.

“I still have my guns.”

“It won’t be needed. Zura wants me to do it in his peaceful way.”

“What does it mean?”

“This is why I need help. He likes to dress up. As a woman.”

She was speechless for a moment.

“I wouldn’t make a good geisha, would I?” Takasugi smirked. “It was a stupid idea, to begin with...”

“I can do it! If, Shinsuke-sama, you still want to…”

“We can try.” He sat at her store.

Matako grabbed a few things and came back to him.

“Okay, I’ll make you light makeup and use some hair extensions to make your hair longer, so I could pin them up.”

He needed to close his eye and think of the most painful death he would serve Zura after all this.

“Shinsuke-sama, would you mind if I talk?”

“Don’t ask me for permission. I’m not your commander anymore.”

“You will always be my leader. No matter what will happen. I’ll always be standing by your side.”

“You can talk. I don’t mind.” He knew that she wouldn’t be just talking about makeup. If she was going to scold him, he didn’t oppose. He deserved it. He let them down. They couldn’t have any worse leader than him. Even though they believed in him and supported him to the end. He didn’t deserve them.

"You've never talked with us,” Matako spoke brushing his hair. “I never minded it, really," she immediately corrected herself. "It's just...” she moved back to grab something, but before she returned to him, she asked: “Did you leave us because of Bansai-senpai?” She waited a moment, but she didn’t even expect to get an answer. She returned to his hair. “We knew. You wanted to keep us safe… You’re always trying to push everyone away cause you don’t want them to get hurt. So I'm glad you came back to your friends. They know how to pull you close... At first, it was strange to see how you look when you were with them. I… Maybe I just wasn’t used to seeing you like this. But you’re happy with them. This is the only thing that counts. So, I’m glad you have them. They are better for you…”

"Better than you were?"

She slowly nodded.

"You were by my side when no one else was. You helped me win them over. All this would happen without you. Without all of you." He wouldn’t let anyone speak lowly about Kiheitai.

Matako smiled lightly and came back to his hair. She was really good at it. He could tell it from her moves. She easily took and pinned up his hair. She looked at him and hummed. “Not bad, so far.” But it was only the beginning. She reached for cosmetics. She took some beige paste out the tube and applied in on his skin. She focused a lot under his eyes. Sometimes Takasugi forgot how he looked since he’d chosen immortality. She had to work hard to cover dark circles under his eyes.

“How… How long do you have?” she dared to ask. Her voice trembled a little.

“Who knows. I don’t yet feel like dying, so maybe even a few more years. You don’t need to worry.”

She nodded. She kept quiet for some time. Takasugi prefered her to talk than to be sadly silent.

She reached for another thing. She applied colourful powder to his eyelids. This one didn’t take much effort thanks to her skilful hands. She looked away again to take something, but it gave her the courage to break the silence: “I was in love with you.”

Takasugi kept quiet. He noticed she had feelings for him. He couldn’t return them. His heart was always painfully yearning for one person who would never be his. Well, he pushed the line between impossible and possible. If only he could bring himself to make a move… Again he was getting too distracted, he needed to focus.

Matako kept talking paying no attention if he was listening to her or not. “I never expected you to return those feelings. I knew it would never happen. Now I began to understand why I felt like this… You were loving someone else,” she made a pause. Maybe she needed a moment to decide if it was suitable to say it out loud, but her curiosity didn't let her stop here. “That man you saved… He loved him, right?”

“It was long ago.” He tried to push away all these thoughts. All these years when his feelings were childish and unrequiered, but as he kept watching Shouyou from afar they matured and grew even stronger. Then there were these few months, the happiest few months in his life, when it was required and again years when they were torn apart.

“But you’re still...”

“It’s always hard to get over your first love.”

“You’re right,” she smiled. She reached for the last thing - the lipstick. She chose some light pink colour. “You know you can still fight for him? There is always a chance…” she stopped. Maybe she felt like she was crossing a line. She moved back and changed the subject: “Okay, I can find you some clothes, but here, I think I’m done.” She gave him hand mirror.

He was going to kill Zura in the most painful and slow way possible.

* * *

“You aren’t looking bad.”

Takasugi turned back when he heard Zura. He expected him to show up, but he didn’t think he would come dressed up too. How could he manage with all this by himself? Maybe that weird duck helped him. Whatever it was, Takasugi didn’t want to pay any mind to Zura’s idiocies.

“You’re going too?”

“I only guide you to the door. I believe you’re better on your own.”

“You know me well,” Takasugi smirked. At least Zura wouldn’t bother him.

Zura went first and Takasugi, just by watching him, tried he had to imitate a bit his moves. He straightens up but kept his eyes low. His steps became smaller and closer to walking on a tightrope. He knew how to sank into surroundings in many ways. He also used disguise many times before, but there was rarely need to dress up as a woman. He wasn’t used to it. Even if he’d gotten to see himself at Matako’s shop and it wasn’t looking that bad, he felt ridiculous in it. How Zura could use it so many times?

He would manage it. There were more important things for him to keep in mind than his current comfort.

Zura, just as he said, walked with him all the way to the right doors, but then he backed off. Good. Takasugi was best doing everything by himself.

He opened the doors to the room and kept his gaze low. He walked inside and close the door behind. He didn’t speak a word. There was no reaction to his appearance. Only silence. Was it the wrong room? He raised his eyes and...

He was going to kill Zura.

Takasugi nearly stepped out of the room to go after him. He would do it if again that smile didn’t distract him from everything.

“They set us up,” Shouyou said cheerfully when the astonishment of their meeting tune down a bit.

Takasugi wiped his face with his hand. How could he be that stupid to get into this? “I’ll kill him if I ever see him again.”

“I know, I know, it wasn’t best from his side. It doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy this evening.”

Shouyou was right. No matter how it started they could use some booze if it was all paid by Zura. And… Takasugi never wanted to leave a room where Shouyou was.

“Come, sit with me.”

Would Takasugi ever refuse such a suggestion?

He approached Shouyou and sat close to him.

“My, my, you smeared it all on your face.” Takasugi tried to wipe his face again, but Shouyou stopped him gently touching his hand. “Let me help you.” He took a handkerchief from his sleeve and used it to clean Takasugi’s face. “They brought me their most beautiful geisha, that’s for sure.”

“Stop it.”

“It’s true,” he stroked his cheek.

“There is still something…?”

“No. I’ve already wiped it all.” Shouyou moved back. “You looked lovely.”

“My friend did it.”

“Your friend?”

“She used to be my subordinate.”

Until he screwed up everything.

He reached his hand to take out the hairpin. He pulled it out, it hurt a bit, but whatever. Matako attached also something to make his hair longer. He tried to pull it out. Maybe a bit too much by force.

Shouyou seeing this stopped him again. “Shinsuke, let me to it. You may hurt yourself if you do it so forcefully.” He moved closer to him again. Even closer than before. Takasugi could only look down and receive all these gentle touches brushing through his hair.

“It should be all.” Shouyou ran his hand through Takasugi’s hair once more. Maybe just to make sure he took everything out. Maybe that was the only reason.

“You smile more like you used to…”

“It felt like nothing changed, didn’t it?” He ruffled his student's hair and moved back a bit. “You were always playing tricks on each other.”

“Maybe… A lot changed.”

“Like?”

“Zura says we strayed from each other.”

“And what do you think happened?”

“That we had never walked the same path.”

“And no matter what divided you, you were still good friends. So has anything actually changed?”

Takasugi smiled a bit.

“Do you think they knew about us?” Shouyou asked. In his head memories of these years were still bright. Memories connected with his students were his only happy ones, maybe that was why he held on them so tightly. But that timed passed. He couldn’t just go back and try to fit into the same place he used to be. Everything changed. And they had to find a place for themselves. In this new, supposedly better world.

“They didn’t know. They’re idiots.”

“Kotaro always seemed -”

“He’s an idiot too,” Takasugi interrupted him. “Maybe once he was smart, but Gintoki’s idiocy is contagious.”

“Oh, I can see it spread.”

“I…” Takasugi tried to oppose, but Shouyou was right. If he wasn’t an idiot, he would get into a situation like this one.

Shouyou smiled. He missed teasing with him. He missed his little blushes. Everything really felt like back then. Even if Takasugi matured and grew even more beautiful, in Shouyou’s eyes, he was still his boy. His most precious boy...

“Can we go back to what we had then?” Takasugi asked. It was almost too naive to ask for it, but… He would give away everything if there was a chance for it to happen.

“I don’t know.”

“I never stopped loving you.”

“Even when I was a monster?”

“You were never a monster. You were fighting against the world which was hurting you.”

“It was self-defence?”

“More or less.”

“It doesn’t feel right to just walk past it.”

“So then, try to redeem yourself. Keep changing the world. Return to being a teacher.”

“Kotaro told you…?”

“No. I figured it by myself.”

“Someone with so much blood on his hands shouldn’t be a teacher.”

“Were you a saint when you taught us? No. But you raised us well.”

Shouyou smiled. “I just happen to meet the most talented boys and they grew up well.”

“You taught us everything we know, everything we stand for. And we saved the world.”

Shouyou watched him. It also felt like back then. Takasugi often said things that caught him off guard. Shouyou could only smile and acknowledge that he didn’t think about it in that way.

His most precious boy...

And he never stopped fighting for him. No matter how hard it got, how hopeless it all looked like, he never stopped.

“My fearless, stubborn boy. It would have been easier if you let go of me.”

“I will never let go of you.”

Shouyou smiled. “As I said stubborn.”

“You liked that.”

“I still love it.”

“I missed you.”

“It’s understandable. You waited for me for twelve years.”

“No. I fought for you for twelve years.”

“And you made it.”

“I did.” Takasugi leaned to kiss him. Shouyou retuned the kiss tenderly. Takasugi pulled him closer. How much he missed him, his closeness, his touch. Takasugi wouldn’t mind losing some of his clothes. Same if Shouyou would lose a bit of his, he wouldn’t mind it at all.

“I’m afraid it isn’t this type of room for rent.”

“It’s their fault if they make the walls too thin.”

Shouyou laughed. He would never believe he could get so happy in his life. So using the words Shinsuke taught him, he said: “I loved you whole this time too…”

* * *

“You’re really getting bad at all this.” As soon as Takasugi came, he heard Gintoki. “At least you could sneak up if you want to assassinate the prime minister. Not walk through the front door.”

“He’s here too?” Takasugi kept his eyes on Zura.

“We thought you may drop in today,” Gintoki snarked. “Looks like Zura’s plan worked out. You’re less gloomy than usual.”

“Looks like it,” Zura grinned.

Takasugi rolled his eyes .“You knew?”

But again Gintoki spoke up: “You were always so head over heels for Shouyou, anyone would notice. But all this endless drama to fuck one guy? You could tell us sooner, we would find a brothel.”

“Not asking you. You probably find out about it today.”

“You could use words next time.”

“And you could use your head.”

Over they bickering they didn’t notice at first when Shouyou came by to see them. He didn’t try to stop them. He only watched them smiling. No matter what they’d been through, they stayed the same. They were still those kids he picked up for his school. So maybe he could also be just Shouyou.


End file.
